Kid wants to work on Wall Street

[Anonymous]

This thread is mostly one Bucknell student or alum posting over and over, pretending to be different people. "I have no dog in this fight, but BUCKNELL IS THE BEST SCHOOL EVER!"

Look, Bucknell is a fine school, but you're really turning people off with your incessant posting.

Look at the hard data. Here are two analyses of feeder school to Wall Street. Bucknell doesn't appear on either of them. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, and CMC are semi targets for Wall Street. That's pretty much it in terms of SLACs.

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-banking

https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/ib-target-schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is mostly one Bucknell student or alum posting over and over, pretending to be different people. "I have no dog in this fight, but BUCKNELL IS THE BEST SCHOOL EVER!"

Look, Bucknell is a fine school, but you're really turning people off with your incessant posting.

Look at the hard data. Here are two analyses of feeder school to Wall Street. Bucknell doesn't appear on either of them. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, and CMC are semi targets for Wall Street. That's pretty much it in terms of SLACs.

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-banking

https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/ib-target-schools

This, the only schools that are actually feeders are t20s, state flagships (but not per capita) and the very tippy top SLACS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you arguing over Bucknell, they actually publish an annual comprehensive list of where their most recent class is working or attending graduate school.

Here's the one from 2023:

https://www.bucknell.edu/sites/default/files/file/2024-05/final_post_grad_report_2023.pdf

There are degrees within in the school of liberal arts (economics, etc) that appear to lead to Wall Street jobs and then if you scroll further you'll come to their Business school (Freeman College of Management).

I have no affiliation with Bucknell. My son is a rising senior, we toured this summer and he decided that it's not for him.

this data is impressive - don’t see this type of detail from Williams, hmm?? Many many top level jobs - Bucknell clearly places extremely well - and punches well above its weight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My DS graduated from IU Kelley in May and is still looking for a job on Wall Street. Not sure what you guys are smoking.

I guarantee you there are kids that graduated from Wharton still looking for jobs on Wall Street…yet nobody would dispute your chances are greater from Wharton.

Your personal anecdote doesn’t change anything on the raw numbers and PP wasn’t implying that Kelley grads all easily get jobs.

your chances are greater from Wharton IF you have "connections". Otherwise, it is just as good a chance as others.

Well, Wharton/Penn sends double the number of kids to Wall Street then the #2 feeder.

Are you implying they all have connections?

NP. If you take out those without "connections" from Wharton, the odd from UNC Chapel Hill is just as good as Wharton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright OP, this is an area I'm very familiar with and can give some insight. Wall Street is still very prestige driven when we're talking about desirable roles (investment banking, sales & trading, and buy side role e.g., private equity, asset management, hedge funds, etc.). This has improved in recent years but there are many online resources that show the 'target' schools that these institutions primarily hire from. The heavy hitters are Ivy League schools (esp. HYP and Wharton), and similarly prestigious programs, but there are some slightly more accessible schools that your kid should look into if interested in 'high finance':

UVA (Darden)
Georgetown (McD)
U Michigan (Ross)
NYU (Stern)
Emory (Goizuetta)

These would all be reaches, but not totally out of the question. They all have dedicated business schools that have very strong pipelines into IB and Wall St. more broadly. Indiana University's Kelley is another program that places remarkably well and has lower selectivity than the usual suspects. Fordham and Boston College also have some success, but limited comparatively.

Outside of these, some schools do very well regionally (SMU and UT Austin for example), particularly in the Houston scene, though your kid might be less interested in going to college/working there.

I'd ignore much of the advice you'll hear about small schools that "punch above their weight". It's not that some SLACs don't do well (WASP, CMC, and some other very selective LACs do great), but for the most part this is kind of a fiction. I know many people who went to Bucknell or Villanova pursuing finance -- none of those people work in IB, PE, S&T, etc., though they can do fine if targeting corp. dev or accounting I guess.

Main takeaway: Wall St. has its favorites, and breaking in from outside of them is a very uphill battle. It's also worth mentioning that it's a very tough, very cutthroat career path. Definitely the kind pursuit where it's helpful to have other options in mind when you're in college.

Great summary. Until a few years ago, i did m and a for a top nyc law firm. It seemed like everyone i worked with at our client companies was an alum of an Ivy, a very top SLAC, or a very short list of other top schools (stanford, mit, chicago, maybe michigan). As others have said, there also are grads of NYC colleges who live and breathe finance and work harder than anyone (crazy how well Baruch grads, often first gen Americans, do). I literally never came across anyone from Bucknell, Lehigh, or most of the other schools mentioned in this chain. The industry employs a lot of people and has a lot of non-glamorous jobs that a Bucknell grad could fill, but I've never seen them among dealmakers, traders, etc.

+1
I worked on wall st in corp finance in investment banking for years. We mainly recruited from ivies, top LACs, duke, uva, Chicago, ND, pen state, Baruch, nyu, and michigan. I never came across a Bunnell grad. Maybe they applied but there were never any in our summer analyst or associate programs when I was there.

Just because you never came across a "Bunnell" grad doesn't mean they weren't there. N equals one. And did you ask every person you bumped into at work where they went to school? I'm sure I could find someone at GS or JPM who can't recall ever working with a ND or UVA grad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright OP, this is an area I'm very familiar with and can give some insight. Wall Street is still very prestige driven when we're talking about desirable roles (investment banking, sales & trading, and buy side role e.g., private equity, asset management, hedge funds, etc.). This has improved in recent years but there are many online resources that show the 'target' schools that these institutions primarily hire from. The heavy hitters are Ivy League schools (esp. HYP and Wharton), and similarly prestigious programs, but there are some slightly more accessible schools that your kid should look into if interested in 'high finance':

UVA (Darden)
Georgetown (McD)
U Michigan (Ross)
NYU (Stern)
Emory (Goizuetta)

These would all be reaches, but not totally out of the question. They all have dedicated business schools that have very strong pipelines into IB and Wall St. more broadly. Indiana University's Kelley is another program that places remarkably well and has lower selectivity than the usual suspects. Fordham and Boston College also have some success, but limited comparatively.

Outside of these, some schools do very well regionally (SMU and UT Austin for example), particularly in the Houston scene, though your kid might be less interested in going to college/working there.

I'd ignore much of the advice you'll hear about small schools that "punch above their weight". It's not that some SLACs don't do well (WASP, CMC, and some other very selective LACs do great), but for the most part this is kind of a fiction. I know many people who went to Bucknell or Villanova pursuing finance -- none of those people work in IB, PE, S&T, etc., though they can do fine if targeting corp. dev or accounting I guess.

Main takeaway: Wall St. has its favorites, and breaking in from outside of them is a very uphill battle. It's also worth mentioning that it's a very tough, very cutthroat career path. Definitely the kind pursuit where it's helpful to have other options in mind when you're in college.

Great summary. Until a few years ago, i did m and a for a top nyc law firm. It seemed like everyone i worked with at our client companies was an alum of an Ivy, a very top SLAC, or a very short list of other top schools (stanford, mit, chicago, maybe michigan). As others have said, there also are grads of NYC colleges who live and breathe finance and work harder than anyone (crazy how well Baruch grads, often first gen Americans, do). I literally never came across anyone from Bucknell, Lehigh, or most of the other schools mentioned in this chain. The industry employs a lot of people and has a lot of non-glamorous jobs that a Bucknell grad could fill, but I've never seen them among dealmakers, traders, etc.

+1
I worked on wall st in corp finance in investment banking for years. We mainly recruited from ivies, top LACs, duke, uva, Chicago, ND, pen state, Baruch, nyu, and michigan. I never came across a Bunnell grad. Maybe they applied but there were never any in our summer analyst or associate programs when I was there.

Just because you never came across a "Bunnell" grad doesn't mean they weren't there. N equals one. And did you ask every person you bumped into at work where they went to school? I'm sure I could find someone at GS or JPM who can't recall ever working with a ND or UVA grad.

Ha, anyone who went to an elite school is certain to mention it to you.

Or even not so elite. Around here anyone who went to VT, PSU or Syracuse is going to have school schlock plastered all over the car and their office at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering OPs stats
NYU>Georgetown>UMich>Notre Dame> Emory>UVA>WashU>BC>Vandy

I would ED1 Emory for the best odds at getting into a school with a pipeline. Or ED1 NYU Stern as an overall best pick.

Sorry, OP's kid isn't getting into a single one of these schools with his stats. Bucknell or Colgate.

I personally don’t agree with this. These schools are reaches but worth applying to. Bucknell and Colgate simply do not place well in high finance outside of nepo hires and lucky breakthroughs. A better target school is IU Kelley of OPs kid really wants Wall Street.

My DS graduated from IU Kelley in May and is still looking for a job on Wall Street. Not sure what you guys are smoking.

OK so what's the backup plan for kids who majored in econ/finance and didn't get a job on Wall Street?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why?

I don’t think I know a single HS kid who wants to work on Wall Street unless their parents or close adults already are.

Kids are usually more romantic. They know they need a job and need to find a major that will get them a job. But they are usually looking to 1. Be in a helping profession (doctor, teacher, social worker); 2. Be the smartest one around (collect advanced degrees); 3. Be in a follower of their passion (theatre, math, French poetry); 4. Be an entrepreneur (specifics not needed) and 5. Be like mom/dad or not be like mom/dad.

This is ridiculous. My DC wants to be an engineer and design weapons for the military with neither parent having a connection to the military. Doesn't really fit under any of your numbers above unless they scribble French poetry on the missiles they want to design.

I’m sad you couldn’t raise children with morals.

DP they actually investigate your morals very carefully when you apply for a clearance.

I find this laughable with at least some of the people I know with clearances.

OK so report them to their employer if you have hard evidence of misbehavior. If they lied on an investigation, they will definitely get fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My DS graduated from IU Kelley in May and is still looking for a job on Wall Street. Not sure what you guys are smoking.

OK so what's the backup plan for kids who majored in econ/finance and didn't get a job on Wall Street?

My graduated Econ Ivy kid is teaching Pickleball for money while looking for a real job 😂.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids wanting to work Wall Street need to watch out they aren't planning on jobs that bots can do in a few years. Strong people skills will be valued over what quanty skills learned in school.
It's really like planning to go to Hollywood and hang out drinking sodas at Schwab's. Not what it once was.

+1 million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids wanting to work Wall Street need to watch out they aren't planning on jobs that bots can do in a few years. Strong people skills will be valued over what quanty skills learned in school.
It's really like planning to go to Hollywood and hang out drinking sodas at Schwab's. Not what it once was.

This is a huge benefit of going to a highly social school like Bucknell where you learn how to network and be part of the "boys club."

If you are first gen or your parents do not host cocktail parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alright OP, this is an area I'm very familiar with and can give some insight. Wall Street is still very prestige driven when we're talking about desirable roles (investment banking, sales & trading, and buy side role e.g., private equity, asset management, hedge funds, etc.). This has improved in recent years but there are many online resources that show the 'target' schools that these institutions primarily hire from. The heavy hitters are Ivy League schools (esp. HYP and Wharton), and similarly prestigious programs, but there are some slightly more accessible schools that your kid should look into if interested in 'high finance':

UVA (Darden)
Georgetown (McD)
U Michigan (Ross)
NYU (Stern)
Emory (Goizuetta)

These would all be reaches, but not totally out of the question. They all have dedicated business schools that have very strong pipelines into IB and Wall St. more broadly. Indiana University's Kelley is another program that places remarkably well and has lower selectivity than the usual suspects. Fordham and Boston College also have some success, but limited comparatively.

Outside of these, some schools do very well regionally (SMU and UT Austin for example), particularly in the Houston scene, though your kid might be less interested in going to college/working there.

I'd ignore much of the advice you'll hear about small schools that "punch above their weight". It's not that some SLACs don't do well (WASP, CMC, and some other very selective LACs do great), but for the most part this is kind of a fiction. I know many people who went to Bucknell or Villanova pursuing finance -- none of those people work in IB, PE, S&T, etc., though they can do fine if targeting corp. dev or accounting I guess.

Main takeaway: Wall St. has its favorites, and breaking in from outside of them is a very uphill battle. It's also worth mentioning that it's a very tough, very cutthroat career path. Definitely the kind pursuit where it's helpful to have other options in mind when you're in college.

Great summary. Until a few years ago, i did m and a for a top nyc law firm. It seemed like everyone i worked with at our client companies was an alum of an Ivy, a very top SLAC, or a very short list of other top schools (stanford, mit, chicago, maybe michigan). As others have said, there also are grads of NYC colleges who live and breathe finance and work harder than anyone (crazy how well Baruch grads, often first gen Americans, do). I literally never came across anyone from Bucknell, Lehigh, or most of the other schools mentioned in this chain. The industry employs a lot of people and has a lot of non-glamorous jobs that a Bucknell grad could fill, but I've never seen them among dealmakers, traders, etc.

+1
I worked on wall st in corp finance in investment banking for years. We mainly recruited from ivies, top LACs, duke, uva, Chicago, ND, pen state, Baruch, nyu, and michigan. I never came across a Bunnell grad. Maybe they applied but there were never any in our summer analyst or associate programs when I was there.

Just because you never came across a "Bunnell" grad doesn't mean they weren't there. N equals one. And did you ask every person you bumped into at work where they went to school? I'm sure I could find someone at GS or JPM who can't recall ever working with a ND or UVA grad.

It actually sounds exactly like what pp said. They aren’t there. If you can recognize a Williams grad is there, you can recognize a bucknell grad is there, but, as established, they are no where to be found

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bucknell 1000% if kid wants a path to the street and big bucks. Bucknell punches well above its weight in this regard, and the alumni network is unmatched. Rivals the ivies in this regard

Lehigh used to be just as good, if not better than Bucknell for finance. Has that really changed or are they still in the mix? Lehigh has Wall Street Alliance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the NESCAC schools, they all send people to Wall Street even if not a Bulge Bracket firm. G'town, BC, and ND if you're Catholic. Public Ivies all send lots of kids - UVa, MI, Berkeley, UCLA, etc. NYU is great even not if in Stern - kids can study Econ or CS and then do internships during the school year.

I went to NYU and had a ton of friends do that at hedge funds, PE shops, foreign banks, etc. It's the side door to Wall Street and its wide open.

Bucknell is fine and your kid will have a career, though it might be more middle market focused.

I think most people who talk about Wall Street and IB really have no idea about the career opps in finance. A very small % end up in IB. There are more finance jobs in Dallas than in NY now. Middle market is commercial banking - you are still with the top banks making $110 or $120 out of college; there are lots of on and off ramps to other areas of banking. You just want to avoid being stuck in operations in DE unless that is really your thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is mostly one Bucknell student or alum posting over and over, pretending to be different people. "I have no dog in this fight, but BUCKNELL IS THE BEST SCHOOL EVER!"

Look, Bucknell is a fine school, but you're really turning people off with your incessant posting.

Look at the hard data. Here are two analyses of feeder school to Wall Street. Bucknell doesn't appear on either of them. Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, and CMC are semi targets for Wall Street. That's pretty much it in terms of SLACs.

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-banking

https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/ib-target-schools

I think it's clearly the reverse: one anti-Bucknell poster posting negative things again and again.
No dog in this fight but this is definitely how it reads.